Halcyon b/w or hydros pro for cold water?

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17 years ago I bought an aluminum OMS plate from a LDS that came from the manufacturer with some ‘blemishes’ (read scuffs and dings). The LDS wanted to get rid of this for $40. I bought 14 ft of neon pink 2 inch webbing, plus d rings, triglides, crotch strap and stainless steel belt buckle. There was a Dive Rite tec wing the LDS also wanted to get rid of.

Whole thing came to approximately $200. I still dive this rig today. Two weekends ago I dove it on a newly discovered wreck, the Manasoo, in Georgian Bay, Lake Huron. Works just fine.
 
I bought my Hydros Pro around Nov 2017 and have been using it with the travel harness (instead of the integrated weight harness). I travel once a month and am doing about 350 dives a year, so I guess the Hydros Pro has been used for 20 odd trips and about 600 dives. I’m now replacing it with a BP/W. The issue is that the bladder has a worn spot that is leaking. The worn spot is towards the outside bottom part of the bladder. I’m now switching to a BP/W for the double layer construction of bladders.

I looked seriously at the Halcyon. Where I’m located, Halcyon essentially sells the Adventurer and the infinity packages. I backed away from Halcyon after looking at the products at the dealer. Halcyon appears to be now making their single tank wings without slots for cam bands. This means that their single tank wings have to be used with a Single Tank Adapter (STA). To me, this is a deviation from BP/W norms for single tank wings. I would also prefer not to travel with a STA.

I am opting to put together a BP/W as follows:
Wing: OMS
Aluminium plate: OMS
Webbing:OMS
Cam Bands: Apeks
Trim weight pockets: Scubapro

With the modular approach, I should be able to replace defective pants without changing the whole package.
 
What do you mean by now? I’ve got a Halcyon Eclipse 40lb single tank wing that’s 3 years old without the cam band slots. It’s nothing new.
 
After my first dives after my OW/AOW certification this past year, I knew I was hooked and started looking into getting my own gear. The local dive shop had both a Hydros Pro and a BP/W that they let me try out in a pool.

I tried the Hydros Pro first and while it felt good, it didn't feel that much different than a normal jacket style BCD. I don't have much experience to compare with but I didn't find it anything special, especially for it's price. It actually felt bulkier than I expected it to.

I then tried on a BP/W and within 5 seconds knew that is what I wanted to buy. The minimalist feel of it is just something that you can't really explain and is something you have to feel.

To make a long story short, I ended up getting a SS plate from DGX and a VDH 35. I was torn between the 18 and 35 because I am going to primarily be doing vacation diving only, but I went with the 35 just in case I do eventually do some cold water diving, and because the 35 really is NOT much bigger than the 18, especially when deflated.

I haven't taken it into the ocean yet and will be doing so in 2 weeks, but I have tested my setup out in the pool with my 3mm wetsuit on and I'm negatively buoyant without any weights on. I will have to play around with weight once in salt water though but I'm thinking I will need between 0-4lbs.

As far as travel goes, I did a lot of research on carryon bags to fit all of my stuff into and purchased 4 different pieces of luggage and finally found the perfect one. I can fit everything in it other than my fins, simply because they are too long. But I've been packing those in my checked on luggage for decades to snorkel.

My BP, wing, cambands, wetsuit, booties, regulators, weightbelt (probably dont need this though), trim weight pockets, snorkel, mask, computer, etc all fit into it so I plan on just having my carry-on luggage for all of my SCUBA gear, other than fins.
 
I then tried on a BP/W and within 5 seconds knew that is what I wanted to buy. The minimalist feel of it is just something that you can't really explain and is something you have to feel..

"Freedom"?

Or maybe;
"Disencumbrance"
( Freedom or deliverance from encumbrance, or anything burdensome or troublesome.)
 
"Freedom"?

Or maybe;
"Disencumbrance"
( Freedom or deliverance from encumbrance, or anything burdensome or troublesome.)
Yeah I just mean it's one of those things you have to experience to "get it".
 

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